Marriage... Between Us and G-d

Last year, I learned this beautiful idea in seminary. I even had a whole Dvar Torah written about it, which I gave at my friend’s house around 1 in the morning that Shavuot night, but I couldn’t find it now. This is written with what I could remember, so if it doesn’t make so much sense, please blame my memory!

The giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai is often likened to a marriage between G-d and His people. When Bnei Yisrael said “Na’aseh v’Nishma(We will do and we will listen),” it was just like the chupa ceremony at a wedding, or saying “I do…”

The time before marriage, or even before engagement and dating, should be used for preparation. I’ve been told countless times, since starting (and finishing a couple of days ago!) Seminary, that these 2 years would be crucial to my growth and preparation. I always laughed, but I realize now that these people were so right! These years are our last chance to learn as much as we can, to absorb as much Hashkafah, Halacha and values and as much about ourselves as we can, before we need to settle down and use what we’ve learned in a practical setting. The more you prepare the better!

It’s said that when you get married, it’s two halves of a soul coming together to make one. By doing this preparation, you’re making your half the most complete it can be so that when it meets up with it’s other half, it makes a complete whole.

If the giving of the Torah is likened to a marriage between us and Hashem, then the time before Shavuot can be likened to this preparation period. You don’t go into a relationship unprepared; we need to know ourselves and work on ourselves first.

The learning of Pirkei Avot these past few weeks was precisely for that reason. Through learning Pirkei Avot, we learn to be better people, better Jews, to improve our character traits and enhance the good qualities we already have. This shows us who we really are and how to be the best possible people we can be. In this way we fulfill our potential to the best of our ability.

May we all be zoche(deserving) to grow to our fullest potential, and find our other half...